Facebook urged to take action on graphic content

Social media giant under scrutiny

Facebook’s moderation of graphic content is “very wrong” and must “urgently change”, Yvette Cooper has said.

The former chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee made the assessment after leaked documents claimed the social networking giant instructs its moderators only to remove certain threats of violence, but not some references to child abuse.

Ms Cooper said while she welcomed Facebook’s recent announcement to increase its number of moderators to tackle the issue, “too much harmful and dangerous content is getting through”.

Facebook has come under increased pressure in recent months over its influence on almost two billion active users and the control it has over the content that appears on the platform.

According to files published by the Guardian newspaper, Facebook does not automatically delete evidence of non-sexual child abuse in order to help identify and rescue the child involved.

Ms Cooper, who chaired the committee in the last parliament, said this approach was “very wrong”.

“These files demonstrate why powerful social media companies, including Facebook, have to be more transparent as the Home Affairs Select Committee recommended,” she said.

“They also show why we were right to call on social media companies to urgently review their community guidelines, as too much harmful and dangerous content is getting through.

“None of this is easy, and we welcomed Facebook’s commitment a fortnight ago to hire thousands more staff to tackle the problem and bring in more safety measures.

“But on child abuse they are still getting this very wrong and now the guidelines are public and will be discussed, I hope they will urgently change them.”

The leaked dossier also claimed comments posted about killing Donald Trump are banned by the social networking site, although violent threats against other people are often allowed to remain.

There are few things held more dearly than our right to freedom of speech and expression. However, what happens when that collides with our sense of morality and decency?

What if people were able to issue the most appallingly violent and graphic threats with impunity?

There are fears that Facebook is providing just such a platform.

While there is no doubt the vast majority of the social media site’s two billion users are perfectly responsible and law-abiding citizens, there is a murkier side to the network. A place where bullies and cowards gather to launch insults from behind the safety of a computer screen. The question is, should such content be moderated? Yesterday, the former chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper called for Facebook to “urgently change” its approach to the moderation of graphic content.

To be fair, Facebook has committed to hiring staff — thousands of staff in fact — to investigate the problems and draw up safety measures. However, there remains an issue of consistency. While a threat to shoot Donald Trump was removed, images of child abuse apparently remain.

It is a conundrum with no easy answer. Love it or hate it, the rapid spread of social media has been nothing if not remarkable — the policing of content thereon has been rather less successful.